§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to review practice on the performing of caesarean sections in hospitals in Northern Ireland. [148828]
§ Angela SmithIn 2001, Northern Ireland hospitals took part in the "National Sentinel Caesarean Section Audit", in collaboration with the Department of Health in England and Wales and the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE). The audit was undertaken by the Clinical Effectiveness Support Unit of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and was carried out in response to concerns over the variation in caesarean section rates across the United Kingdom.
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Language Speakers Source and comment English 1,700,000 + All Irish and Ulster-Scots speakers are bilingual. See "In other words", Daniel Holder (2003) for information on knowledge of English among speakers of other languages Chinese 4.200 Various dialects are spoken. NI census (2001) recorded 4,200 people of Chinese ethnic origin. Holder (2003) estimates 8,000 British Sign Language 3,000 British Deaf Association Irish Sign Language 1,500 British Deaf Association Cant/Shelta/Gammon 1,700 Oral languages of the Irish Traveller Community Holder (2003), Kirk and O Baoill (2002) Arabic 1,000-1,500 Holder (2003), Modern Standard Arabic, also including speakers of Western and Eastern Arabic Portuguese 1,000 + Holder (2003) Tagalog 600 Holder (2003) (National Language of the Philippines) Bengali 450-500 Holder (2003) Hindi or Punjabi 1,700 Holder (2003) Southern Indian Languages 500 Holder (2003) includes Tamil, Kannada, Kanta, Malay ala, Marati, Oriya and Telugu Farsi 350 Holder (2003) Following the audit, the Clinical Effectiveness Support Unit on behalf of NICE has been developing clinical guidelines for caesarean section. The Department, Boards and Trusts will carefully consider these guidelines when they are produced. In the meantime, the Department will continue to work with the professionals concerned to ensure that care delivered locally is of the highest quality.
§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what percentage of births in Northern Ireland were by caesarean section in the last 12 months for which figures were available; and what the figures were(a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years ago. [148835]
§ Angela SmithThe table sets out the percentage of births to Northern Ireland residents that were by caesarean section.
Percentage Year of Birth Caesarean Sections 19881 N/A 1993 14.2 1998 20.3 20032 26.2 1Data not available for 1988 2Data for 2003 is provisional Source:
Child Health System